Exterior, Durham Cathedral

Detail of the stone carving on the exterior of Durham Cathedral. Circa 1100.

The use of lozenges (diamond shapes) and intersecting arches was common in Romanesque architecture. (See previous image). The combination of recessed and projecting lozenges, as seen here, would have been especially effective in sunny climates where the contrast between the recesses and the projections would have been striking. This pattern may have been seen in Spain and copied from there.